Two days after the Union Cabinet approved the National Medical Commission Bill that proposes a National Exit Test (NEXT) that will serve as an entrance exam for postgraduate medical courses, the Dravida Munnetra Kazgham protested against it both within and outside Parliament.
The DMK MPs organised a protest at the Gandhi statue on Parliament premises before the start of Friday's session raising slogans against NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and NEXT.
In the Rajya Sabha, Tiruchi Siva (DMK) said the idea of ‘one nation-one exam’ infringes on States’ rights and would be detrimental for State board students. The National Exit Exam, as proposed under the NMC Bill, had a three-pronged purpose. It would serve as a licencing test for final year MBBS students. Second, it would be a screening test for foreign students. And third, it would be a uniform admission exam for postgraduate courses. “Education is in the Concurrent List, and health is in the State List, but those two rights are now taken away by the Union Government,” Mr. Siva said.
An all-India national test was not practical, Mr. Siva said. “When the syllabus differed from State to State, at the school level, primary, secondary, higher secondary and also at the higher education level, how can we have one uniform test? Like, there is one Nation one Election, one examination for all students in the country will not be suitable at all,” he added.
Recommendations of the New Education Policy are still being deliberated upon. So it is unfair to circumvent that process to introduce new exam.
The DMK had been demanding scrapping of both NEET and now was demanding that the proposal to have NEXT dropped.
